Ski boot



' v p 29, 1910 W.KAUFMANN mm 3,530,596

' I v SKI BOOT Filgd llarch 12, 1969 KAUFMANN MISTELI INVENTORS United States Patent 3,530,596 SKI BOOT Willy Kaufmann and Ernst Misteli, Krcuzlingen, Switzerland, assignors to Raichle Boot Company, Ltd., Kreuzlingen, Switzerland Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 700,766, Jan. 26, 1968. This application Mar. 12, 1969, Ser.

Int. Cl. A431) U.S. CI. 36-25 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part of US. application Ser. No. 700,766, filed Jan. 26, 1968 by Willy Kaufmann, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND One of the well-recognized principles of skiing is that a substantial amount of control of the skis depends upon the fit and operation of the ski boots, so that the skier may simply move his leg to control the edging of his skis. This control is achieved by providing firm lateral support between the lower portion of the skiers leg and his boot. At the same time, the skier must be able to incline his leg forwardly in order to maneuver the skis properly.

Various types of ski boots have been designed with the purpose of providing the desired lateral restraint while permitting forward movement of the leg. Usually these boots have been constructed with an outer boot of relatively stiff leather which is subject to wear and becomes flexible through extended use.

It has previously been recognized that a permanently rigid material is useful for the construction of an outer ski boot. However, until the present invention, there have been no boots of this type which have provided the essential comfortable fit, lateral stability and freedom of forward movement without requiring a pivoted cuff member.

SUMMARY One aspect of the invention involves a rigid boot shell which has side portions extending upwardly to lie laterally of the ankle and a lower portion of the wearers leg, a front opening which permits forward inclination of the wearers leg about his ankle joint, and an adjustably-tensioned cuif which lies across the front opening to resist such forward inclination. Boots constructed according to this principle provide the important lateral support and an adjustable degree of resistance to forward movement of the wearers leg.

Another concept disclosed herein involves a rigid outer boot which encloses a removable inner boot, wherein the inner boot is notched between its lower portion and its high cuif portion to facilitate forward inclination of the leg with the high cuff portion during skiing.

Another feature of the disclosed boot involves a pair of pivotally interconnected boot shell sections which are held together by clamp means, and having resilient means for biasing the clamp means away from the boot shell sections so that the clamp will not interfere with movement of the shell sections from their open position to their closed position.

Another disclosed concept involves the use of accurately adjustable clamp means for holding together two shell sections which are separated by a resilient sealing strip. The clamp means involve an over-center lever which is connected to one of the boot shell sections by a threaded connector in a fashion so that rotation of the threaded connector will vary the location of the over-center lever and thereby vary the amount of compression of the sealing strip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the rigid outer boot shell sections in their open position, and a skier placing the removable inner boot therebetween;

FIG. 2 shows the boot shell section in their closed position, and the closing and tensioning of the cuff member; and,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken through the shell clampmg means.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side elevation of the inner boot.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferred form of ski boot, and the one shown in this application involves two major assemblies. One is an inner boot 2 and the other is an outer boot 4 formed of a pair of boot shell sections 6 and 8.

The inner boot includes a sole portion as well as the other elements of a shoe so that it may be removed and worn separately as an after ski boot if desired. The inner boot is made of soft, flexible material such as leather and it includes a conventional laced opening which extends along the instep and up the front of a high cuff portion 12. The high cufl? portion extends to a height substantially above the skiers ankle. A conventional lace 14 is used to hold the opening 10 in a tight position and to hold the inner boot snugly on the foot of the skier.

Since the ability of a skier to bend his leg forwardly about the ankle joint is so important, the laced opening 10 is widened at notches 16 which are located at the lower end of the high cuif portion 12. This, of course, reduces the resistance offered by the inner boot 2, to forward movement of the leg and therefore makes it suitable for skiing activities.

In order to make the boot more comfortable, there is a thin lining of resilient foam material on the interior walls of the boot shell sections 6 and 8, and there is pading which extends throughout a major portion of the inner boot 2. It has been found particularly desirable to provide the inner boot with a thickened interior pad at locations immediately below and behind a wearers ankle bone. This pad is in the shape of an L and is located at the broken line position designated 18 in the drawings.

The outer boot is formed of a permanently rigid material such as a polyester resin reinforced with glass fibers. Other organic polymeric materials having similar strength and rigidity characteristics are also suitable. These sections are pivotally interconnected at a for-ward hinge member 20 having a pin 22 and a similar rear hinge member. The details of this interconnection and the sole construction are illustrated in the aforementioned abandoned application.

Each of the boot shell sections 6 and 8 has an upwardly extending side portion 24 and 26 which will lie laterally of the ankle and lower portion of the wearers leg to provide the necessary lateral support. The forward and rear edges of the side portions 24 and 26 will be spaced apart when the boot shell sections are closed together, thereby defining forward and rear openings. The presence of the forward opening permits forward inclination of the wearers leg.

The boot shell sections 6 and 8 are held together by over-center clamping means of the type shown in detail in FIG. 3. The clamping means include an over-center lever supported from one boot shell, and a retaining means for the lever mounted on the other boot shell.

The entry of moisture into the outer boot shell 4 is prevented by the use of a resilient strip which lies along the adjoining or mating surfaces of the two shell sections 6 and 8. As explained below in connection with FIG. 3, the clamping means 26, 28 are adjustable to vary the degree to which the sealing strip 30 is compressed.

The boot shell section 6 carries a cuff member 32 which has a length capable of extending entirely around the ankle to enclose both side portions 24 and 26 in the manner shown in FIG. 2. It is permanently attached to the upstanding side portion 24. This cuff is provided with padding material in the zones which lie over the front and rear openings between the side portions 24 and 26.

As shown in FIG. 2, there are over-center clamp means for holding the cuff in its closed position. This clamp means involves a pair of lever assemblies 34 which are adjustably attached by buckles 35 to flexible leather straps 36 at one portion of the cuff. The other portion of the clamp assemblies involves the catch member 38 located at the opposite end of the cuff portion and provided with a plurality of upstanding elements, any of which may receive the pin on the over-center locking lever. From this description, it will be appreciated that changes in the buckling connection between the straps 36 and lever assemblies 34 will result in variations in the tension applied to the cuff assembly. More accurate adjustment tension may be obtained by using different ones of the upstanding elements on the catch members 38. This permits the skier to adjust the tension in the cuff and thereby adjust the resistance to forward inclination of his leg, in order to suit his individual taste and skill.

The clamping means 26 and 28 for the boot shell sections 6 and 8 are shown in detail in FIG. 3 where it will be observed that the over-center lever assembly includes the over-center lever 40, a support lever 44 and a mounting bracket 46 which is permanently attached to its respective boot shell section. The catch member 28 has a pair of upstanding arms 48 and 50 which provide a pair of spaced apart notches for receiving the lock pin 42 v on the over-center lever. The catch member 28 is permanently attached to its respective boot shell section.

The over-center lever 40 is connected to the support lever 44 by a pivot win 52, while the support lever 44 is pivotally connected by pin 54 to the head of a. threaded fastener 56 which is received in an appropriately threaded recess in the lever support fitting 46.

Referring to FIG. 1, it will be observed that the opening of the boot shell section would normally result in the interference by levers 40 or 44 with the closing of the boot. In order to avoid this, resilient means are provided for maintaining the support lever 44 and its attached over-center lever out of the space between the mating edges of the boot shell sections. As shown in FIG. 3, this may constitute a piece of compressible resilient material 58 such as rubber which is attached to the underside of lever 44 so that it acts upon the surface of the boot shell section therebeneath. This avoids interference by the levers 40 and 44 with the closing of the boot.

The sealing strip 30 is centrally depressed as shown in FIG. 3, and it is essential that it be properly compressed in order to provide a suitable seal. This adjustment is possible by virtue of the threaded fastener 56 which may be rotated to vary the distance between the lever support 4 fitting 46 and the catch member 28 when the shell is held in its closed position. For suitable adjustments, it has been found particularly useful to use a thread having a pitch which will provide no more than one millimeter adjustment for each rotation of the fastener 56.

From the foregoing description, it will be understood that we have provided a novel ski boot which is desirable due to various features incorporated therein. These features are preferably included in a single boot but it is conceivable that they may be used individually, in which event they would impart their individual desirable characteristics to the particular boot.

What is claimed is:

1. A ski boot comprising, a rigid boot shell configured and dimensioned to enclose at least the foot of a wearer below the ankle, said rigid boot shell having integral upwardly extending side portions located to lie laterally of a lower portion of a wearers leg, said side portions having spaced apart forward edges defining the sides of a front opening which permits forward inclination of a lower portion of a wearers leg about his ankle joint, a cuff extending across the opening to resist such forward inclination, and adjustable clamp means holding the cuff to adjust the resistance offered by the cuff to such forward inclination.

2. A ski boot according to claim 1 wherein a cushion pad is located on the interior of the cuff where it extends across the front opening.

3. A ski boot according to claim 1 wherein the upwardly extending side portions have spaced apart trailing edges defining the sides of a rear opening, said cuff extending across the rear opening.

4. A ski boot according to claim 3 wherein the cuff is permanently secured to one of the upwardly extending side portions and extends over both of said side portions when the adjustable clamp means is secured.

5. A ski boot according to claim 1 having a removable inner boot, said removable inner boot having a high cuff portion extending to a height substantially above a wearers ankle, an opening lying in a vertical longitudinal plane and extending along the instep and up the front of the high cuff portion, lace means extending across the opening to hold the inner boot snugly on the foot of a wearer, said opening being widened at notches which are located at the lower end of the high cuff portion to facilitate forward inclination of the high cuff portion with respect to the remainder of the boot.

6. A ski boot comprising, a rigid outer boot, a removable inner boot having a high cuff portion extending to a height substantially above a wearers ankle, an opening lying in a vertical longitudinal plane and extending along the instep and up the front of the high cuff portion, lace means extending across the opening to hold the inner boot snugly on the foot of a wearer, said opening being widened at notches which are located at the lower end of the high cuff portion to facilitate forward inclination of the high cuff portion with respect to the remainder of the boot.

7. A ski boot according to claim 6 wherein the inner boot has thickened interior pad portions at locations which will lie immediately below and behind a wearers ankle bone.

8. A ski boot comprising, a rigid boot shell comprising two boot shell sections, pivot means interconnecting the boot shell sections to pennit movement of the boot shell sections from an open position where a foot may be inserted therebetween to a closed position where a foot is retained therebetween, clamp means spaced from the pivot means and operable between both boot shell sections to hold said boot shell sections in a closed position, and resilient means for biasing the clamp means away from the boot shell sections, thereby preventing the clamp means from interfering with movement of the boot shell sections from their Open position to their closed position.

9. A ski boot according to claim 8 wherein the resilient means is a compressible elastomeric element which lies between the clamp means and a boot shell section.

10. A ski boot comprising a pair of pivotally interconnected rigid shell sections forming a boot shell, said shell sections adjoining each other at mating surfaces, a resilient sealing strip at said mating surfaces and clamp means for holding said shell sections together to compress said sealing strip, said clamp means including an over-center lever member supported on one shell section and a catch member attached to the other shell section, a threaded connector attaching one of said members to its respective shell section to adjust the spacing between the members when in their engaged positions; whereby rotation of the threaded connector before engaging the members will vary the degree of compression of the sealing strip.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,531,768 11/1950 Andre 36-25 3,325,920 6/1967 Werner et a1. 362.5 3,362,091 1/1968 Drago 36--2.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 323,595 9/1957 Switzerland.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner 

